Tuesday, June 8, 2010

When I wrote the first part of Tid Bit Tuesday, my deceased sister Jo Ann was also on my mind, due to a couple of reasons. Obviously when I saw the huge sign on the old Circuit City building that read Jo-Ann's Fabrics, I thought of her. There's various ways to spell Jo Ann, and most of the time they aren't spelled like hers.

The other reason was because she died in the month of June, 1984. I never remember the date of someone's death. I only remember their birth dates. Conscious decision or not? I'm not sure. Anyway, after seeing the Jo-Ann's Fabrics sign, I decided I really needed to know. I needed and wanted to know the date she lost her battle with cancer.

I e-mailed my other sister, my brother and sister-in-law, etc. My sister replied first, that she too didn't know the exact date. (Well, I guess I'm not so weird after all.) After I read her reply, I went downstairs to our basement, walked directly over to a junky dresser where old birthday cards, photographs, kids' school work, etc. are kept and found what I was looking for. After only 5 minutes or less, I uncovered Jo Ann's obituary, in perfect condition. It had been clipped from a newspaper, was folded nicely and obviously quite yellow with age.

I scanned over it quickly.....yes, she was born on such and such a date.....Then there it was, ..."passed away June 8, 1984.."

Oh my gosh! Today! Today is the 8th of June. HOW did I seem to know that? WHY did I become so determined to find out? WHAT or WHO led me to the exact place I must've looked numerous times before?

Y'all know I like to talk about my Twilight Zone moments. This is one for the books, as the saying goes. Help me, though. I'd really like to give a better, more meaningful name to what I've experienced over the past 24 Hours or so.

"My god, you've lost your mother." -- what a therapist said when I told her about my relationship with Jo Ann.(I was devastated when she died. She was 16 years older than me. She was my sister, my friend, my mother)

Since I didn't get around to taking any pictures of my newest tea cup finds, I won't be participating in today's Tea Cup Tuesday. Instead, my title is: Tid Bit Tuesday....because that's exactly what this is.

Have you ever been listening to your car radio, and the time and the station numbers are the same? And for a minute, you click the button a couple of times, thinking something's wrong with it. Then you figure it out! That happened to me again the other day. It's so weird! It was exactly 10:33 and the radio station was 103.3. Other times, it's been 10:25, and I'm listening to 102.5....Wacky!!

For those of you that live in my area, did you notice that a business is moving into the Circuit City store that was vacated last year....the one next to Best Buy and Mid Rivers Mall?? It's Jo-Ann's Fabrics! I hardly ever think to shop at Jo-Ann's, and I guess I'm not on their mailing list anymore. They usually do have some great bargains in their craft and decor items. That's what I go there for. Unfortunately, I cannot sew, or quilt, or crochet, or knit. (those things all require talent AND counting) I used to enjoy doing the old-fashioned cross stitch...the kind where the X's were stamped onto the fabric. I don't want to have to COUNT to figure out where my next stitches go.....thank you very much! Most of you know I have a problem with COUNTING. Math and I do not get along!

(borrowed from Ms. Sparkle-Farkle)

"The greatest unsolved theorem in mathematics is why some people are better at it than others." -- Adrian Mathesis

Words I Live By

I was a goofy little girl & kept that sense of humor!

My brother Mike, and me

Photo Booth!

As Val said, "Good thing your brother was your straight man!"

Some Favorite Quotes

"...IF YOU FOLLOW YOUR BLISS, DOORS WILL OPEN FOR YOU THAT WOULDN'T HAVE OPENED FOR ANYONE ELSE." - Joseph Campbell"SOMETIMES ON THE WAY TO YOUR DREAM, YOU GET LOST AND FIND A BETTER ONE."- Lisa Hammond

"IT IS POSSIBLE AT ANY AGE TO DISCOVER A LIFELONG DESIRE YOU NEVER KNEW YOU HAD." - Robert Brault

"IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO BE WHO YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN." - George Eliot

"WE DID NOT CHANGE AS WE GREW OLDER. WE JUST BECAME MORE CLEARLY OURSELVES." - Lynn Hall

"GO CONFIDENTLY IN THE DIRECTION OF YOUR DREAMS! LIVE THE LIFE YOU HAVE IMAGED." - Henry David Thoreau

Our beloved Vern

Beloved Tiger Girl

Our first dog, beloved Rocky, watching over Mark in 1988

Adopted as young puppy: 1983-1997

Speaking at a Local Library - July 2014

One of My Mantras

“Follow your bliss.If you do follow your bliss,you put yourself on a kind of trackthat has been there all the while waiting for you,and the life you ought to be livingis the one you are living.When you can see that,you begin to meet peoplewho are in the field of your bliss,and they open the doors to you.I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid,and doors will openwhere you didn't know they were going to be.If you follow your bliss,doors will open for you that wouldn't have opened for anyone else.” -- Joseph Campbell